Diana Chagolla, M.A.

Bio

Diana Chagolla is the Project Manager for the Conmigo. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from San Diego State University and a Master of Arts in Education with an emphasis in Culture and Development from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Diana’s research focuses on health education programs, health communication among Latine families, and health disparities. During her graduate studies, Diana conducted research on the communication dynamics within Latina mother-daughter relationships, exploring topics such as body image, health concerns, exercise, and nutrition for her M.A. thesis. Her research also includes a mixed methods study on the perspectives of Latine college students regarding mental health, stigma towards mental illness, and mental health communication with parents.

At UC Santa Barbara, Diana was actively involved in mentoring first-generation undergraduate students through programs offered by the Chicano Studies Institute (CSI), where she also served as a graduate student research assistant at the CSI Center for Research in Latino Health and Adolescent Development. This led to her involvement in developing and evaluating a cancer prevention program targeting the use of electronic cigarettes for local high school students.

As a San Diego native, Diana has engaged in opportunities to work with non-profit organizations that prompted her involvement with communities in areas of community development, health and well-being, civic engagement and first-generation mentorship of students. This early involvement with the community prompted Diana to further pursue the area of community based research addressing health disparities.

Now as the Project Manager for Conmigo, Diana’s role involves a collaboration with the YMCA and local school partners to deliver Conmigo programming to Latina mothers and daughters. Diana is involved in the process of supporting both intervention and evaluation efforts of the program while also maintaining community relationships.